The Mount Rushmore Of Slice Of Life Anime (Do You Agree?)

Mount Rushmore is a US concept.

It’s a section of the US where four presidents are carved into a mount in South Dakota.

In an anime context, many people argue the Mount Rushmore characters are:

Naruto Uzumaki.
Ichigo Kurosaki.
Goku.
Luffy.

But what about the Mount Rushmore of slice of life anime? No one has ever considered it.

So, let’s talk about it.

Here’s MY Mount Rushmore of Slice of Life anime.

The Mount Rushmore Of Slice Of Life Anime:

1. Clannad

In my mind, it would be criminal to ignore an anime series like Clannad when thinking about it in a Mount Rushmore sense.

Clannad has been so influential as a slice of life series in the genre, and even beyond that.

The anime is:

Recognized.
Praised.
Respected.
Quoted.

And acknowledged as one of the most emotional, powerful, well written slice of life series the industry has ever produced.

It’s more than a slice of life of course. It’s a romance series also, which ties into its impact.

Season 1 of Clannad is more “slice of life” in terms of being chilled, relaxed, and happy, with some sad moments and emotional episodes.

But season 2 kicks up the quality even further, and with it comes trauma, romance like never seen before (in a sad context), maturity for many characters, and relatable struggles that help you put yourself in the character’s shoes.

For parents, it’s especially relatable and sad.

2. Violet Evergarden

Even though this anime is another one from Kyoto Animation like Clannad, the facts can’t be denied. Violet Evergardenn has been one of the most impactful slice of life series ever made.

It deserves the “Mount Rushmore of slice of life” by a long shot.

In fact, it’s like the 2.0 version of Clannad in the sense that it’s also:

Emotional.
Has brilliant storytelling.
Great writing.
Strong characters.

And for both of their timelines, has good visuals. This being especially true with Violet Evergarden’s out of this world aesthetics and visual quality.

Violet is a young girl who was forced into the army and used as a pawn from childhood. She is an orphan, so this was her normal way of life.

She killed for the military, against her will you could say, and when the war ended and she grew up, she started to feel the pain of her actions as any normal person would who has empathy and compassion.

As she searches for the meaning of “I love you”, the last words spoken to her before her Major disappears, she develops and grows as a person. All while helping other people deal with their insecurities and struggles.

Her line of work is writing letters for people. This is where the anime shines, and each episode is more powerful than the last.

Relevant: 10+ Anime With ART Like Violet Evergarden (Beautiful Visuals)

3. Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

As you can tell, it’s hard to not mention an anime from Kyoto Animation while talking about slice of life. They make a lot of them and are the best at doing it.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a series released in 2017, and so far has 2 seasons with a third to come in the future I’m sure.

Both seasons have:

Captivated.
Grabbed.
Surprised.
Impressed.

And have ultimately driven fans worldwide to fall in love with this series.

Like many slice of life, it mixes other elements. In this case, it mixes:

Action.
Comedy.
Fantasy.

And it does it in such a way that it can’t be compared to many anime for its uniqueness and its own way of telling stories.

That’s not to say it can’t be criticized for certain bits of the anime, but if we’re talking about a Mount Rushmore list of slice of life anime, you can’t ignore an anime like Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid given its impact.

Kobayashi; the MC, is an introvert who works in an office, and the dragon Tohru lives with her after they both meet each other while drunk.

The anime’s shenanigans kicks off from there.

4. K-On

I’ll mention K-On as the 4th Mount Rushmore piece. K-On is far too influential as a slice of life series to be ignored or disrespected in this way.

Every anime today borrows from K-On even if a little, and the genre wouldn’t be what it is without the involvement of a series like K-ON. Even the anime Yuru Yuri takes inspiration from K-On.

You have:

Two extroverted characters.
Two introverts.
One character who is considered an ambivert.
You have two airheads.
You have two serious characters.
And probably 3 characters who are hilarious.

Of course, these traits are shared between 5 characters who are all female characters.

All of them are of college age, and all of them play and make music together under the name “after school tea time”, which was created by Yui Hirasawa. The fearless and energetic airhead of the group.

K-On is both comedic, fun, entertaining, and it does have its more emotional episodes and there is a lot to relate with as far as its characters.

It can even teach you life lessons but overall, it’s an iconic slice of life series by Kyoto Animation.